


Go to Sleep, You're Not Alone

by smug_rabbit



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-10 21:27:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8939965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smug_rabbit/pseuds/smug_rabbit
Summary: Ouma and Akamatsu are paired with each other by Monokuma to stay in Hotel Kumanami for the night. But Ouma's having trouble sleeping.





	

**Author's Note:**

> With NDRV3 a month away, I threw this fic together based on what I've seen of the trailers.

‘Play me a song, Akamatsu-chan! I wanna hear if you’re as good as everyone says.’

Ouma really was a kid. Who’d have thought someone with those sparkling eyes could be an aspiring dictator?

‘If I’m good enough, could I inspire you to quit your dreams of becoming an oppressive dictator, and become a pianist like me?’ she teased.

‘Don’t get your hopes up. I just wanna sleep peacefully tonight, you know?’

Playing the piano to put him to sleep wasn’t a bad idea. It would relax her, too. And it’d be something to take her mind off her current situation; locked in Hotel Kumanami with Ouma Kokichi. Despite being close to ten PM, exhaustion hadn’t set in yet, not with her head still buzzing from Monokuma’s demand:  _Each student must room with another in Hotel Kumanami for the rest of the week, starting tonight_.

 _What exactly do Monokuma and his cubs want us to do?_  She shook her head. Ostensibly, this was supposed to give the students a motive to kill each other, but she didn’t understand the other connotations of the Monokuma cubs’ request. She couldn't believe the tackiness of it all, that anyone could have built a love hotel in a prison. Fortunately, her partner was Ouma, who willingly ignored the stressful situation he’d been placed in.

Most fortunate indeed, compared to poor Saihara, who had drawn Chabashira as his roommate. Akamatsu wondered if his pale face and trembling lips as he clutched the paper with Chabashira's name on it would be the last memory she'd have of him.

Aside from the Super High School Level Dictator, all she had for company were inanimate objects; a king-sized bed, a bathroom, two lamps giving off a red light atop a dresser, a potted plant, and oddly enough, a Bearnstein piano, complete with an image of Monokuma’s face on the lid. With such barren furnishings carelessly thrown together by someone who’d evidently never had a romantic thought in their life, awkwardness pervaded the room. Not that Akamatsu had ever been inside of a love hotel, but she was certain they were supposed to make patrons feel comfortable.

At least there were no cameras here. This would be an ideal place to plan an escape and the defeat of their bear captors. She considered discussing it with Ouma. Or Amami and Saihara, if she got the chance.

Ouma, on the other hand, didn’t seem to have anything like escape on his mind at all.

Her roommate bounced from his sitting position on the bed, jostling the blankets and sending the pillows flying in all directions.

‘Please, Akamatsu-chan!’

She took her seat at the grand piano. No matter the situation, she was unnerved that there was such a thing in this room. Almost as if it was placed here, just for her.

She cleared her thoughts. Her only focus now was to cure Ouma’s insomnia. From experience watching her mother play, a slow tune would do the trick. Perhaps a sad, melancholy, yet soothing one from an anime she watched as a child.

Brushing the hair out of her eyes, she placed her fingers on the keys, conjured up the songsheets in her mind, and began to play. Out of the corner of her eye, Ouma sunk into the sheets.

‘That’s really nice. Perhaps I’ll have you play at my inauguration. And my wedding. And I’ll pass a decree ordering you to do a piano solo at my funeral as well.’

‘It won’t come to that.’

‘Then I shall have you kidnapped, and you will play me piano solos every night before bedtime.’

Akamatsu had no idea whether he was joking or not, but she chuckled anyway.

‘I’m serious. The piano helps me sleep. Mom used to play songs for me, when I was younger.’

Akamatsu perked up. This was the first time he’d mentioned his family situation.

‘She must’ve been good at it.’

He didn’t say anything for a while, preferring to listen to the piano. Then:

‘I remember in my first lesson of middle school, when I was surrounded by people I didn’t know. Our class’ first activity was to introduce ourselves and what we hoped to achieve in life. Obviously, I said that my dream was to rule over the world, and I assured them that I’d be eventually successful in that endeavour.’

‘The class bullied me after that. They said I was too small to lead anything, and that I was delusional. Hey, you don’t think I’m delusional, do you?’

‘No more delusional than the rest of us.’

‘Mom said that too. Anyway, there was this one time that I got beat up pretty bad, bad enough that I ended up in the doctor’s office. Mom didn’t know anything about the bullying until she came to pick me up, and saw me swathed in bandages. I was crying when she found me, though I don’t really remember it.’

‘Even after we got back home, I was still crying. So, she lay me on the couch in her living room, and played the piano until I fell asleep. It was comforting enough to become a routine every night before bed.’

‘As for the people in my class-’ Ouma paused to yawn- ‘they weren’t all that important to me in the end. I’ve ended up at the Gifted Inmates Academy with the finest people on the planet, and where are they now? In some no-name high-school. None of them are destined to become anybody important.’

He paused, and Akamatsu wondered if he wanted her to act impressed. ‘Now that you’re here, you shouldn’t keep thinking of old classmates. You won’t see them again.’

‘You know the funny part? I didn’t mean it when I first told that class that I wanted to be dictator of the world. That was just to stand out amongst the losers. But after how they treated me, I changed my mind. I wanted to rule over those idiots who hated ambition. And if you hate ambition, you’ll waste your whole life being envious of someone with dreams and the courage to see them through. Eventually, that person will be me!’ He clapped his hands and fell back onto his pillows, snuggling the bedsheets in glee.

Akamatsu didn’t think that was why they hated him, but she wasn’t going to say so.

‘When I’m dictator of the world, I’ll make them all bow before me, and then I’ll throw them in prison.’ He laughed again, but it was softer now, muffled by his blankets.

‘Scary.’ Akamatsu humoured him. Antagonising him would only keep him awake, and she wanted him to fall asleep soon. ‘What else have you got planned once you become dictator?’

Ouma was silent for so long that Akamatsu thought he’d fallen asleep. Finally, in a pause between her playing, he responded: ‘I’ll have statues dedicated to me, obviously. I can’t have a dictatorship without statues.’ He raised an open palm towards the ceiling, and clenched it into a fist. ‘I’ll also destroy all the robots. Especially Kii-bo.’

Akamatsu had a flash of cheering crowds holding  _Ban Kii-bo_  banners. A giggle spilled past her lips.

‘What’s so funny?’

‘Nothing. I mean, you shouldn’t bully him. He’s our friend.’

‘Petrol-breath is disgusting.’ Ouma sniffed. ‘Robots shouldn’t look like us. They’re only good for killing, anyway.’

‘Robots must have done something really bad to you, huh?’

‘No, no. It’s just that my vision of world doesn’t include ruling over a bunch of metal scraps. But I enjoy teasing Kii-bo. Besides, he deserves it for hating vending machines, and where else am I going to find grape Panta?’

‘Direct from the Panta factory?’

‘I hadn’t thought of that. As dictator, I could nationalise all Panta factories worldwide, couldn’t I?’

Soon enough, Akamatsu’s tune came to an end. It was only one song, but she felt drowsy from the effort. She didn’t remember why she couldn’t sleep in the first place.

‘That’s it for tonight, Ouma-san. I’m tired too.’

There was no response. Upon further inspection, Ouma's eyes were closed, and he was drooling into his chequered neckerchief.

Akamatsu climbed in next to him, willing for him not to wake up. She propped up on her elbow to brush the sleeping boy’s long eyelashes. He did not stir.

‘You weren’t lying to me about your family, were you, Kokichi?’

No sooner had she said that, the lamps dimmed, leaving the room encased in a red glow. Ouma still didn’t move.

Akamatsu sighed and gently lay on her back, a wave of drowsiness crashing over and scattering her thoughts.

As Akamatsu closed her eyes for the last time that night, the last thing to cross her mind was that she hoped they’d all survive until the morning.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope the characters aren't OOC...but we'll know by the time the full game comes out!


End file.
